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Blockchain Case: Anti-Corruption

Land Governance – Serpro (Brazil):Blockchain is being used in several pilot programs to fight fraud and corruption when it comes to land governance. Since the technology can be used to record and verify transactions, it is being applied to the storage of land registry entries and land titles.

In Brazil, the company Serpro (that creates businesses by connecting governmental entities – and its public information – with society, through innovative and safe digital solutions) has launched a blockchain platform project to fight frauds that are currently happening, due to antiquated land titling systems, and to protect the endangered environment of the Amazon Forest.

The lack of a current verifiability system is resulting with the falsification of land registries entries and land titles, giving false and illegal permissions for people/companies to cut down parts of the rainforest for soy and beef farming. Brazil’s federal law protects the Amazon rainforest by only allowing a certain percentage to be cut down and explored for commercial purposes and keeping most of the rainforest intact.

Serpro believed that blockchain could be the solution to end fraud and reduce corruption, by improving the controls and records of citizens, businesses and the government. Through blockchain technology trusted records would be produced, since stored information can’t be deleted or altered, which means that any corrupt politician that tries to tamper with the records will be tracked and publicly identified.

This pilot project was intended to boost high-level corruption investigation, following a scandal involving two former Brazilian presidents, a lot of high class executives and politicians, which resulted on their imprisonment and the payment by the oil-company Petrobras of $3 billion due to the corruption lawsuit.